Last Tuesday we loaded into the truck along with Owen and Cathie and headed East. Our first stop was Vicksburg, MS. (Actually our first stop was at a truck stop for a much needed break) Vicksburg is home to the National Military Park. This is from the NPS website.


“Welcome to the Vicksburg National Military Park
The park commemorates the campaign, siege, and defense of Vicksburg. The city's surrender on July 4, 1863, along with the capture of Port Hudson, LA, on July 8, split the South, giving control of the Mississippi River to the Union. Over 1,340 monuments, a restored Union gunboat, and National Cemetery mark the 16-mile tour road.”

This tour through the park took us 3 hours and that is not seeing everything. If we would have had the time to see it all it would have taken us at least 4 hours. Lots of memorials throughout the tour. After seeing the terrain that the battles took place on I am totally in awe of the men who fought in the civil war here. Anyone going through Vicksburg should take this tour.

From Vicksburg we headed a little further East to Jackson. We had dinner reservations at the Red Lobster for 5:00 PM. Pulled in at 4:55, same time Ray and Janice pulled in. They are friends that we workcamped with in Beaver, UT. They drove up from Hattiesburg to meet us for dinner. We had a great dinner and got caught up on what we all have been doing the last couple of years. After dinner we said our goodbyes to Ray and Janice then we went to the Dixie Rodeo in Jackson. It was a very good Rodeo with lots of action and of course some great entertainment. Tanya Tucker was mid rodeo entertainment, She puts on a real good concert and still has that nice raspy voice. She closed her concert with what else but Delta Dawn. Being 165 miles from home we left the rodeo before it was over and headed home. We arrive home at 1:30 in the morning. It was a long day filled with lots of fun and entertainment.

Until next time God Bless you all.

I have been reading other RV'ers blogs this morning, There is such a variety and wealth of information and knowledge out there on these blogs. Some are entertaining with a humorous style of writing, some are just a lot of good information on places to go and things to see and do. Of course there is a couple out there that have the potential to be  great blogs but they have been mostly ignored and not updated by the blog owner, I have been guilty of this many times. It seems we get to busy doing everyday  chores and not doing anything really exciting so the blog just falls to the wayside.
Thanks to all you bloggers that help make my life more interesting with your writings and pictures.
I am also on Facebook where I keep up with a lot of family and friends and also on Twitter. I wish more family and friends would get involved with Twitter. It is a great way to just say what is on your mind or what you are doing with just a few words. I follow some pretty interesting people and Organizations on twitter.
So I guess what I am trying to say in this post is the internet is a wealth of information, and a great way to communicate with family friends and organizations.
Until next time God Bless and take care.

Her are some pics of the truck with the bed on it, still have to install 5th wheel and get some running boards, mount some tool boxes and etc. but getting it there slowly. So far just running around 16.4 mpg. Nice feature is a 52 gal fuel tank. Will add more pics as progress occurs.

Ok I said I would try and and get a pic on here of the new truck. It is a dodge 3500 HD cab/chassis. It will have a bed on it next monday, so more pics to come. Trying to find some running boards so Vicki can get in and out, OK me too.

A very eventful fun filled day. First Sorry Dad my phone died !
We had a big fish fry and a ton of fish was cooked and consumed. Lots of Owens and Cathies kids friends and relatives showed up for the event. We had a really good meal with lots of fun company. Then on to the evening and the Saints and Vikings game, what can I say, Saints in overtime  !! Big party in New Orleans tonight.
Weather was really nice today and looks like good weather for couple more days. Lake is still high and muddy. Later all, god bless and take care for now.

A short update about last night. We had tornado watches and severe thunderstorms, Rained like crazy for a while. Lake was up about a foot this morning and has kept on rising all day. We took a ride today over to Start, LA and then on to Rayville, LA Home stomping grounds for Tim McGraw. Vicki drove down Tim McGraw St. A very short dead end street. The street sign was a good 10 or 12 feet in the air. It was explained to us they did this because the sign kept growing legs and walking off.
OK life is good here, until later.

Now to catch up on Louisiana. We arrived at Lake DeArbonne last thursday afternoon. Friday was spent visiting Owen and Cathie. We are parked at there place on the lake. The view out our back window is of the lake.
Saturday I went to W Monroe with Owen and Cathie to an AG Expo. I am still not sure what a Boa Constrictor has to do with Agriculture but there it is.

We had a great day, went to lunch at the Peking Restaurant after the Expo and had a really good lunch.

Sunday Owen fried some fish and several friends and relatives came over and we ate and visited and had another fun day. Sun is out today so may try fishing later today.

Until next time God Bless you all, and please pray for our country.

OK, to digress just temporarily below is pictures In Sulphur Springs of Butch & Betty and there new home. Thanks for your hospitality, we had a great time and really enjoyed our visit there.

We arrived in Sulphur Springs, TX.  yesterday early afternoon. Checked into Shady Lake RV park. This could be a very nice park, they do need some gravel on the roads, no cable and water is mostly chlorine. Needed some grocery's so off we went to wal-mart, got what we needed and called Butch & Betty to let them know we were here. We went over to there house and had a great afternoon and evening visiting. Betty made some chicken enchiladas that were really good.
We will be here until Thursday morning, then off to Louisiana. Owen and Kathy here we come !!!!!

Left Matagorda, TX this morning. We had a great visit with Bill & Alice I hope we get to see them again soon. Had a good trip to Athens, TX. We are at the Windsor RV Estates Park. It is a very nice park, good water, good cable, good wi-fi.
We will go on up to Sulphur Springs tomorrow. Visit there with Butch and Betty for a couple days then over to Bernice, LA. to visit more friends. I will update as I can as to what we are up to so stay tuned.

Happy Birthday Kay

Yesterday we drove over to Galveston. It is a very unique city. The Sea Wall drive is wonderful. Below is some pictures of the Hurricane damage. Can you imagine someone surviving staying in the 1st picture?  Three people rode out the Hurricane in that building and survived. The 2nd picture was a water fountain, and the 3rd was obviously the Flagship Hotel.
We ate lunch at Gaido's Seafood restaurant. Was a very good lunch, but very expensive.
Wind is blowing and it is raining and getting cold out today, so we are hibernating in the trailer.

An interesting day here in Matagorda (the third oldest town in Texas). They had a cattle drive across the River. It was interesting watching them drive the cows to the river on horseback. then a boat took over and herded them on across the river. There destination was an Island where they will graze the summer and then off to market in the fall.
Here is some pictures of the canpground and a couple of the cattle drive.

Camp site in Matagorda, TX

Blue Heron

Cattle Drive across the Colorado River

Cattle Drive across the Colorado River

We arrived in Matagorda, TX early yesterday afternoon. Our view out the window is of the Colorado River, just before it goes out to sea in the Gulf of Mexico. Lots of birds here. It is a great nature area.
We have been enjoying visiting with Bill and Alice, friends we met in Florida in 2002. Went out to dinnerlast night to a really good seafood restaurant. We will be here for 2 or 3 more days then move on. I will try and get a couple of pictures here and post later.

Another event filled day yesterday. Have you ever had the plesure of trying to find a portable welder on New Years Day???? The hitch on the back of the trailer decide to part ways on I-10 just west of San Antonio. After a hundred phone calls I finally located a welder. 45 minutes later he showed up. Took 2 hours to repair the hitch. So after sitting on the side of I-10 for over 4 hours we finally got underway again. Made it to Flatonia, TX. Nothing here !!! We will be off for Matagorda in a few minutes.